The hidden factor behind most of my decisions

This could be yours too.

Values seem like those textbook words we don’t have to apply forcefully in our lives, but show up naturally. Though they’re always present somewhere, even if you don’t know you’re using them unconsciously.

For example, how do you decide if you want to be friends with someone? Your values, of course! They let you choose someone who has the values you admire.

If you don’t like fakeness, you can’t be friends with someone who fakes. Here, honesty is your value, and it helps you decide who to be friends with. In the same way, your values help you make every decision or choose something over something else.

Your values are a powerful factor in deciding or guiding your life’s decisions, both big and small.

I heard it many times before, but never saw it applied to my life. Some of the things you don’t learn through textbooks or websites, but through your own life’s course.

Life gives you chances to see these things for yourself, and I got mine this time, and I understood how values work in real life. I’ve often told people to use their values to decide right and wrong, but I didn’t realize how difficult it would be for me when situations pull me in different directions.

You don’t get easy answers. You’re never alone in these situations. Your conditioning, surroundings, people, and fears are all there to make it more complicated.

Who comes to your rescue then? Your gut feeling or sixth sense? Yes, maybe! But without values, they can’t do much. They only work with your values, even if they are subconscious.

I was in the 10th standard when I had to decide whether to leave my current school and move to a new, better one. Looking at it from different perspectives, the decision could have been complicated, but I made it instantly. I was firm about enrolling in a new school because it meant better studies and more opportunities.

At the time, I didn’t realize that one of my values was working in the background and guiding that decision. Otherwise, I might have held back because of a familiar environment, friends, or even the fear of uncertainty.

I wanted to grow and choose an environment that pushed me to think in new ways. I didn’t want a comfortable life, but one that challenged me and pushed me to do better.

The value that pushed me was growth. It showed in how prepared I was for the new place and new people. I didn’t second-guess my decision to move there; instead, I focused on making sure I got selected. It wasn’t that I was overconfident in my abilities, but I wanted to give my best. That was the only thing on my mind, and I trusted it would lead me somewhere better.

This is how I now see values at work, even though I wasn’t aware of them at the time.

I believe in the power of values. How about you? What’s your take on them?